Happy
by CoffeeDrinker
Summary: One-shot set in the middle of episode 5x06 ("Norman Mailer, I'm Pregnant!") when Luke is over fixing Lorelai's oven.


**Happy**

. . . . .

As Luke worked on her oven, he could overhear Lorelai's conversation on the phone with Rory, and when she finally hung up, he looked over at her, concerned.

"What's going on?" he asked, still kneeling on the floor in front of the oven. "Is she okay? Sounded like you had to give her a pep talk."

"She's just freaking out a little," Lorelai replied.

"About what?"

"She feels like she wasted her summer taking a vacation with my mother when she should've tried to get an internship somewhere," Lorelai explained. "You know, to try to get some real-life journalism experience. Now she feels like she's behind everyone else."

"She has plenty of time to go out and get experience," Luke said. "It's good to travel when you're young, to see the world before you get sucked in to a lifetime of work. Or so I've heard."

"Yeah, I tried to tell her. I don't know if I got the point across."

"I'm sure you did. She'll be fine. If she feels like she's behind, she'll figure out how to get to where she wants to be... that's Rory, that's what she does."

Lorelai smiled at how confident he was, at how much he believed in her daughter. She nodded in agreement. "That's the truth." She took a sip of her coffee, and then watched him tinker with the oven for a moment. "How's your head?"

Luke glanced back over at her. "It hurts, so stop laughing every time I hit it."

Lorelai frowned sympathetically. "I'm sorry. You want an ice pack? And by ice pack, I mean a bag of tater tots, because I don't think I have an actual ice pack. But trust me, the tots work wonders."

"Nah, it's okay."

"Well, how about some Advil then?"

Luke considered it for a moment, then agreed, "Yeah, if you have some."

"Yup, I'll go get it."

Lorelai went upstairs to the bathroom to get the bottle of Advil. She glanced around, smiling to herself at the toiletries that had made their way over from Luke's apartment, like his toothbrush, deodorant, shampoo. This was the fastest in any relationship that a man's toiletries had found a home in her bathroom.

As she thought about her other longest adult relationships, she realized this might actually be the _only_ time extra toiletries had ended up at her house. Max didn't sleep over much because Rory was still at home, and when he did, he brought a toiletry bag with him and took everything back home. Jason never stayed overnight because of his sleeping issues.

As she headed back downstairs, she thought about what Rory had said on the phone, that she sounded happy. Lorelai couldn't actually remember the last time all of the different pieces of her life were all going well. With the new inn up and running, and hopefully soon stabilizing, work was going well. Even though her parents were separated for the time being, she was still getting along well with both of them. After a summer apart from Rory, they were now reconciled and that mother-daughter bond was stronger than ever.

And then... the icing on the cake... there was Luke.

The kind, genuine, caring man who adored her, who teased her but respected her, who embraced her quirks even when they annoyed him.

He had been in her life for so long, always an important piece but one that was often in the background because of everything else she had going on. He was always that friend she could turn to for anything, and now he was suddenly front and center in her life, the person she thought about the most besides Rory.

She once again thought back to her previous relationships. Much like how they didn't take up any real estate with their toiletries, they also didn't take up much space in her mind. She had never been the type of girl to sit around thinking about what her boyfriend was doing, or wondering if he was thinking about her, or staring at the phone waiting for him to call. She was interested and attentive when she was out with them, but when they weren't right in front of her, the other things going on in her life usually took precedence in her mind.

But with Luke, it was different. She was suddenly in a relationship that she thought about all the time. One that already felt more serious than the others even after only a few weeks.

And the best part was that it didn't scare her. She was all in and she didn't feel stressed or nervous about it - she felt excited. She felt happy.

Lorelai returned to the kitchen and found Luke standing up at the oven adjusting the dial. "Is it fixed?" she asked.

"I think so," he replied. "I tested it, seems to be okay." He walked over to the sink to wash his hands. "I'm gonna fix the back door lock next so your keys don't get stuck anymore."

"Here, take these first," she said as she opened the pill bottle. She poured a couple into her palm, set the bottle on the table, and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge.

She walked over to him, waited for him to dry his hands, and handed him the pills and water.

"Thanks," he said.

"You're welcome," she said. She watched as he popped the pills into his mouth and took a drink, and then she stepped closer to him. She took off his hat and gently ran her hand over his head. "Does that hurt?"

"A little, in the back." He set the water bottle on the counter, and tilted his head down as she caressed it.

"I don't feel any lumps, so that's a good sign," Lorelai said. "But you might have a concussion, so you probably shouldn't sleep tonight."

Luke lifted his head to look at her with a sly smile. "You gonna help keep me awake?"

Lorelai smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Well, it's the least I can do." She replaced his hat on his head as she added, "Thanks for looking at the oven for me."

Luke shrugged. "No problem."

"My feet are excited to be warm and toasty again."

Luke shook his head amusedly. "One day I'll show you how the dryer works."

"I appreciate that." She ran her hands up his arms and cradled his neck in her hands as she kissed him. She pulled back with a sexy smirk as she told him, "I will give you a more proper thank you later."

"Looking forward to it," he replied, resting his hands on her waist.

Lorelai leaned in to kiss him again, and he kissed her back gently until he felt her tongue seeking entrance to his mouth. His lips parted, and her tongue began caressing his, and mutual spine-tingling sensations ensued as their passionate kiss intensified.

When their lips separated, his arms remained wrapped around her, holding her tightly against him. She felt safe with him. Protected. Comfortable. Content. The list went on and on.

Lorelai looked up at him with a warm smile. "You know what Rory said to me on the phone?"

"What?"

"She said that I sound happy," Lorelai replied, and then she nodded in confirmation. "And I am... I've been really happy lately."

Luke smiled. "Good. Any particular reason?"

Lorelai shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, I don't know," she casually replied. "It might have something to do with this guy who's the first thing I think about when I wake up every morning and the last thing I think about when I'm falling asleep at night."

"Who is he? I'll punch him."

Lorelai giggled and she ran her hands over his chest. "Well, I guess I just showed my hand there, huh? Now I can't play hard to get... now you know that I'm kind of, sort of, maybe just a teeny bit into you."

"I had a suspicion," he told her. "And besides, I pretty much showed you my hand on our first date."

Lorelai grinned. "You showed me more than your hand that night, mister."

Luke smirked. "Yes, I did." He leaned in to kiss her, and when he pulled back, he said, "That goes both ways, you know."

"What does?"

"I think about you a lot, too," he told her, and then with a slightly embarrassed look, admitted, "But honestly, I did that even before we started dating."

"Oh, right, the pining thing," Lorelai teased.

"It wasn't pining," he disagreed. "It was... fondness for a friend."

"Okay, we'll go with that." Lorelai was quiet for a moment as she stared into his eyes. "And... are you happy, too?" she asked. "I mean, with _us_? Are you happy so far?"

"I'm surprised you have to ask me that," he said, and then he cocked his head to the side as he gave her an intrigued look. "Is this one of those things where you already know the answer, but just wanna hear me say it?"

Lorelai was nibbling on her bottom lip as she nodded.

Luke gently brushed some of her hair away from her face. "Yeah, I'm pretty happy."

Lorelai's eyes narrowed at him. "Wait, just _pretty_ happy? Not _really_ happy? Like, on a scale of one to ten, what's _pretty_ happy?"

Luke smirked... he had expected that reaction. His face turned serious and he locked his gaze with hers as he told her, "Pretty happy is the equivalent of _I've never been happier in my life._ "

Lorelai smiled and glanced sheepishly down at the floor for a moment. She took a breath before looking back up at him. "So, here comes the real question," she said. "How long do you think that two people who have self-proclaimed themselves as horrible at dating and relationships can actually keep a good one going?"

"Well, if those two people work at it, I think they can keep it going for a really long time," Luke said. "Don't you?"

Lorelai nodded. Her eyes drifted down to his hands as she laced her fingers through his, and then she brought her gaze back up to his face. They shared a smile, and she leaned in to kiss him before she whispered, "That would be nice."

. . . . .

. . . . .

 **Author's note:** I had an urge to write another early-relationship one-shot, and this is what came out. Thanks for reading!


End file.
